U.S. Pat. No. 4,156,380 discloses an electrically operated guitar having a sound box within which guitar strings are fretted and strummed or plucked. By using a keyboard, a musician can create the sounds characteristic of the electric guitar.
The present invention has for its main objective to provide an electrically operated bass machine in which the bass strings are struck by hammer elements and are not plucked or strummed. Cooperative string dampering heads eliminate string fretting and a uniquely different musical sound is produced by the instrument as a result of striking the strings within an acoustically insulated enclosure or "soundboard". The sound produced by the machine is derived from a combination of acoustical dampering, reverberation and resonance not achievable in any known prior art device.
A further object of the invention is to provide an improved electro-mechanical bass machine of the above-noted type which a musician can operate by a remote keyboard and/or pedalboard, while simultaneously playing other instruments.
Another object of the invention is to provide a musical instrument of the above-noted type which is comparatively simplified in its construction, entirely practical, convenient to operate and constructed largely from commercially available components.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following detailed description.